Antislavery Activism in Lowell
Document 39

Document 39: Sermon Preached by Reverend Eden B. Foster on John Brown’s Raid, John Street Congregational Church, Lowell, November 16, 1859

Throughout early 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown raised money from other abolitionists and ordered weapons — pikes and guns — to be used in his war against slavery. He was planning to raid the federal arsenal, a place for making and storing guns and ammunition, in Harpers Ferry, VA. His goal was to establish an independent stronghold of formerly enslaved people in the mountains of Maryland and Virginia from which they would fight to liberate all enslaved people. He gained financial and moral support from several Boston abolitionists. 

On Sunday, October 16, 1859, Brown called his men together. Following a prayer, he outlined his battle plans and led them in the raid. Sixteen people were killed. John Brown was captured and jailed. He was put on trial for conspiring with enslaved people to rebel and treason against the state of Virginia. Brown was found guilty and executed on December 2, 1859. A contemporary newspaper account foretold a grim future. "The Harpers Ferry invasion has advanced the cause of disunion more than any other event that has happened since the formation of the Government."

Reverend Eden B. Foster, the minister of Lowell’s John Street Congregational Church, was active in the city’s antislavery circles. In response to John Brown’s unsuccessful raid on Harpers Ferry, Rev. Foster felt torn.  He regarded Brown’s raid as not only a mistake, but a crime. A month after the raid, Rev. Foster preached this sermon at his Lowell church.

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